Strip-metal blocker.



I. G. MENZER.

STRIP METAL BLOCKER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 19. I916.

1,230,750; Patented June 19, 1917.

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STRIP-METAL BLOCKED.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19, 1917.

Application filed August 19, 1918. Serial No. 115,797.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Josnrn G. Manna a citizen of the United States, and a resldent of New Bedford in the county of Bustol and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Strip-Metal Blocker, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to metal handhng machinery and has particular reference to rolling mill appliances, although I wish 1t to be distinctly understood that the particular use for the apparatus is not to be unnecessarily limited to any particular art, since the device is capable of use in many diiferent fields of operation.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device automatic or practically automatic in its nature for initiating the rolling or winding of a sheet or strip of metal or the like upon a block as such sheet or strip is received from the rolls of a rolling mill or their equivalent.

More definitely stated, the purpose of the invention is to eliminate the dangers incident to an operator pursuing the usual practice of initiating the winding of the sheet or strip of metal or the like upon the block.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device having the capability of facilitating the windinglaction and providing for the operation of t e mill and the output of the plant at a greatly increased speed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of this invention, showing in full lines the operative position of the parts with a sheet or strip of metal being wound upon the block and showing in dotted lines the1 open or idle position of the carrier yoke; an

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings for an understanding of the construction and operation, I show at 10 a base inclined somewhat toward the mill rolls (not shown) to provide a receiving member for the sheet or stri indicated at S, and by this expression it wi be understood that I mean to cover a sheet or other strip of metal or any commodity being made or manufactured and adapted to be wound upon a mandrel or block, and hence hereinafter I will employ the term sheet in this generic sense. The base is provided at an approximately'central portion with a pair of transverse arallel slots or openings 11 and 12 and just in front of the forward opening 11, is provided an upwardly directed guide 13.

At 14, I show a pair of rigid standards secured to the upper surface of the base in any suitable manner and arranged in parallel vertical planes on opposite sides of the two slots 11 and 12. The general form of these standards is that of a semi-circle as viewed in side elevation with the upper ends thereof directed forwardly. The front ends or toes of the base portions of the standards are indicated at 15 as having their surfaces in alinement with the active surface of the guide 13. l

Secured below the base 10 are a pair of slotted guides or brackets 16 arranged in parallel vertical planes, each having a slot 16' in which a block 17 is guided for more or less vertical slidin or reciprocating movement. These brac ets 16, as is indicated clearly in Fig. 1, are directly below that portion of the base that is provided with the slots 11 and 12.

The block is indicated at B and may be of any well known "or conventional nature, the same being secured to a driven shaft 18 for imparting rotation to the block in the direction indicated by the arrow. The axis of the shaft 18 is located approximately at the center of curvature of the standards 14, and the diameter of the block is such that sufiicient space is left between the block and the standards to accommodate the roll of metal or the like that is to be received upon the block.

At 19 there is pivoted in the upper and front end of the standards, a yoke 20 comprising two arms 21 which in the main are parallel to each other and lie in vertical planes Erallel to the planes of the standards. viewed in side elevation, however, the arms 21 are curved at their lower. ends to approximate the curvature of the front provement depending for its operation ufpon these parts and as will be stated hereina The yoke is provided with a handle 24 of any suitable nature or location, whereby an operator may manipulate the same.

' operator commonly known in the art as the blocker or coiler, positioned at the right side of the machine, as indicated in Fig. 1, may draw the handle toward him and swing it downwardly so as to throw the front end of the yoke upwardly away from the block. A spring catch 20' may be used if desired to. hold the yoke in the. open position, as indicatedin dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The sheet S is received upon the upper surface of the front end of the base and I engages some or all of the guides 13 and 14,

whereby the sheet is deflected upwardly at its end toward the rear side of the block wherefi tlis received upon or against an end lessband or belt 25 of any suitable construction. .This belt is operated up through the slot 11 and down through the slot 12 of the base and between the standards 14,-. The belt also will be seen to operate over or around the block and initially in direct contact therewith, whereby the belt will be positively driven either by the block or the sheet being wound between the block and the belt. The yoke is provided with a plurality of pulleys 26 and 27 journaled for rotation around parallel axes 28 and 29 respectively, and over which the belt is operated. I wish it to be understood that the number and location of these pulleys, as indicated, may be varied materially without departing from the spirit of the invention. The general purpose of these pulleys is to cause the belt to be carried well forwardly and around the block so as to provide a maximum amount of friction or contact for the end of the sheet upon the block. At 30, I show another pulley journaled for rotation around a fixed axis 31 between the standards 14 at the rear of the block. The belt travels from the pulley 27 directly rearwardly over the pulley 30 and thence downwardly through the slot 12.

Any suitable means may be provided to maintain a proper degree of tension upon the belt for the purpose of this invention, but to this end I show an idler pulley 32 of suitable weight to receive the loose bi ht of the belt and hold it by gravity un er 1,230,750 v i a,

The

grasping a handle 33 proper tension. This idler 32 is-journaled for free rotation around the axis of a spindle or shaft 33 journaled in or supported upon the sliding blocks 17. It will be seen that the slotted brackets 16 are inclined-' preferably slightly at thelr lower ends toward the front so as to insure a corresponding inclination of that portion of the belt which receives the end of the sheet from the guides 13 and 15, although the precise location of the idler pulley 32 or form of the supporting brackets therefor are not essential.

From the foregoing specific description of the apparatus illustrated, the operation thereof may be briefly summarized as follows: The improved winding or guiding device may be moved in any suitable manner and from any desired direction to the position indicated and with the block being operated in the usual manner from any suitable running part of the mill, the belt 25 coming into frictional engagement with the surface of the block will be operated thereby in the direction indicated. The end of the sheet thus received by the belt will be carried upwardly between the belt and the block, the tension upon the belt due to the tension means will insure that such end will follow closely and be coiled upon the surface of the block. After sufficient amount of the sheet has thus been coiled upon the block to insure a proper grip thereof, the coiling device may be withdrawn in a simple manner at the convenience of the oper ator. According to the constructionshown herein, the removal of the coiling device is effected as follows: The yoke 20 is swung into its dotted line position and locked by the catch or keeper 20', thereby throwing the front end of the belt and the front end of the yoke upwardly away from the block. The blocker or other attendant may then by or its equivalent draw the apparatus bodily rearwardly away from the block until it is to be used again.

With respect to the belt, the standards 14 and yoke 20 may be regarded as an open substantially circular frame for supporting the belt upon the anti-friction means journaled in the relatively fixed and movable parts of said frame. The belt by means of the rollers is formed into two bights on opposite sides of the block and the intermediate portions of the belt between the adjacent rollers operate on the same side of the block in opposite directions.

In theordinary practice of this type of devices, the block B is some times removed with the roll of metal thereon from the arbor 18 and another block putin its place, and some times the roll of metal is'removed from the block without interchanging the blocks. When the metal is already removed from the block, it is necessary to reverse the direction of the roll to loosen it so that it may be slipped endwise from the block. With my invention, this removal of the roll from the block is facilitated because a simple reversal of direction of rotation of the block, the outer end portion of the roll being held more or less by the endless band, initiates immediately the loosening of the roll upon the block.

I claim:

1. The combination with a rotary block, of a base movable with respect to the block, a pair of standards carried by the base and extending therefrom so as to embrace one side of the block, a yoke pivoted to the free ends of the standards and adapted to loosely embrace the opposite side of the block, means to throw the yoke outwardly so as to clear the block when the base is moved as aforesaid, and an endless gripping member operated over said standards and yoke and including a loop or bight carried by the yoke outwardly to clear the block during movement of the base.

2. The combination with a power driven rotary block, of gripping and coiling means cooperating therewith comprising a base movable with respect to the block, a pair of standards secured rigidly to the base and extending therefrom and curved so as to loosely embrace one side of the block, an anti-friction roller supported in fixed posi tion upon said standards, a substantially arc-shaped yoke pivoted to the free ends of the standards in a vertical plane substantially coinciding with the axis of the block in normal position, said yoke extending around the opposite side of the block, a plurality of anti-friction rollers journaled upon the yoke around parallel axes, one roller being in substantially the same plane as the roller first mentioned, while the other yoke roller is located close to the base, an endless gripping member operating over all of said rollers and between the standards, said gripping member comprisingtwo remote bights, one of which embraces the yoke rollers, tension means located in the other blght, and means to manipulate the yoke so as to throw it outward out of norrotary block,

mal position to permit the movement of the base.

3. The combination with a power driven rotary block, of a base adjacent to the block, a pair of standards secured rigidly to the base and extending therefrom and substantially halfway around the block, said standards being provided with guiding means adjacent to the base to deflect the strip of metal toward the block to initiate the gripping action, a rigid arc-shaped frame member pivoted to the free ends of the standards directly and extending thence around the opposite side of the block toward the base, a lever connected to the frame member for throwing the same around its pivot so as to clear the block, means to hold the frame member and lever in this position temporarily, anti-friction rollers earned by the standards and the pivoted frame member, and an endless gripping band operating over said anti-friction rollers and cooperating with the guide means aforesaid and the block to automatically engage the end of the strip of metal and roll or block the same upon the block.

4. The combination with a power driven of a base adjacent to the same, said base having a pair of parallel slots formed therein, a pair of rigid standards secured to the base and extending substantially halfway around the block, an areshaped rigid frame member pivoted to the free ends of the standards, a pair of antifriction rollers journaled upon the frame member for rotation around parallel axes and both on the side of the block remote from the standards, means to throw the pivoted frame member with its rollers outwardly away from the block, an anti-friction roller journaled upon the standards in alinement with said slots, an endless gripping band operating over said rollers and through said slots, and tension means for the band, said tension means acting to tighten the band upon the block and also to cause the pivoted frame member to be drawn toward the block.

JOSEPH G. MENZER. 

